Listener
by InuKamahira
Summary: Slight AU: The adventures and tragic occurences around a new bot in the crew of G1. Meet Auris, a mech unlike any other! But i will say no more this time, least i spoil the surprises along the way. Excerpt: Carrying should be one of the most pleasurable situations for every bot with intact processors. And sometimes everything goes to the Pit.
**This story will start before the war and will go through it, lead into G1, with some accidental visits to some other things, thanks to WHEELJACK! (How could i not?) It will be slightly AU.**

 **Transformers is not mine and i don`t make money with this story.**

 **Hope you will enjoy it^^**

* * *

Time:

Breem – 8 minutes

Night-cycle – Nighttime, Solar-cycle – Day, Orbital-cycle – a whole day

Deca-cycle – 3 Weeks

Joor – 1 hour

Mega-cycle – 2 month

Nanoklik – 1 second

Orn – 13 days

Stellar cycle – 1 year

Vorn – 83 years

* * *

Carrying should be one of the most pleasurable situations for every bot with intact processors. It should feel like the carrying bot would be complete, be a unity with the Sire and the newspark. The bond, which should be developing, should be filled with adoration, love and anticipation. A femme Carrier should be feel elated when her hunger for Energon and goodies would rise higher and higher as it would indicate a healthy sparkling development. Femme Carriers would elate in the feeling of the slowly developing bump in their chassis and later in the abdominal plating, should proudly show off the bump and love to present it to their mate. A mech Carrier should be starting to build a first frame, hunting down the necessary parts in the most fitting colors for his mood, roping his mate into the treasure hunt and discussing loudly over the colors. Both kind of Carriers would prepare a list of possible designations, mostly with help of friends, family and mates. Carriers should get moody and brooding, but still be loving, should focus their attention even more on their (possible) firstborns or other sparklings, should smother them with affection and love, telling stories of and for their new sparkling with his or her siblings.

In all of this cases the Carrier has to visit a medic once in a while. At the beginning at the carrying term and at the end, more often than in between. The first to make sure that the spark has settled correctly and gets enough minerals and energon. The second to see if the newspark is ready to slide down the birthcanal in his or her femme Creator or in case of a mech creator, if the newspark is ready to take out by a medic to be implanted into the build first frame.

But all of this, the medic, the energon, the living unit, the cribs, the playpens, the goodies, the different needed minerals and the needed metals for building a frame. All of this came at a cost. The cost of credits. And credits had to be earned somehow, to be worked for, but sparked `bots weren`t allowed to work after the second of three terms of carrying, and they weren`t paid for the lost time in their jobs. So they had to save the credits in the time before or their mates would have to earn more somehow with their respective jobs.

But when the job doesn`t pay so well, there are other sparklings at the housing unit and a bot is sparked with a newspark, the bot has to save the needed credits somehow. Sometimes it`s saved by buying already used things for the sparklings or the newspark, like used cribs or playpens or second-servo Plushies. Or the bots could skip some of the appointments with the medics in between the stages of carrying. Sometimes saved credits came from a second, and illegal, jobs in the night cycle and more often than it should be the norm, the bots from the middle or lower social classes could indulge in some under-the-table-deal, where some items, goodies and sometimes energon for the higher classes were sold at a better price and a more reasonable price. Where the goods came from, nobot would ever ask, because nobot would ever want to lose this little bit of Extra, that sometimes would be available.

These under-the-table goods were often very good, but slightly damaged but sometimes the prices were low for other reasons. And normally every bot would think twice before buying the goods with unknown origins, but when they needed to buy something really important, then you had to bite cybercat into its tail and hope that it wouldn`t scratch out your optics.

* * *

Hydrostorm was a femme in a not so nice situation. Slag it, she was a femme in a tight spot. Her mate and her hadn`t wanted to get sparked so soon again after the birth of their second mechling, but the medication for the sparking-control must have been faulty or it had been over its expiration date, because now Hydrostorm was sparked up again. And the credits were barely enough for their two creations Scatterstrike and Venatus, her mate Narrator and herself. Narrators job as a Reservat Scientist at the edge of Iacon paid well enough but their two creations were in a growing phase and needed more energon and more minerals than normally, but the medic told them it was just a phase.

They couldn`t spare the needed credits for the new sparkling, the prices for energon were highrocketing because of the mine strikes that were going on, but both Narrator and Hydrostorm were happy to get another family member into their family unit, even when the timing was more than bad. Sure, they could use the old cribs, blankets and playpen from their older twins, even use the old Plushies, but the credits would still be too tight to live from it. So here she was, in front of one of the stores from which she knew that they sold some goods under the table. Beside her stood a good friend of hers, Wavelength. The purple and silver femme was in the same tight spot and situation as the dark and light blue Hydrostorm. Both had got sparked recently, both were suspended from their jobs as Engineers at the labs in the middle levels of Iacon.

Due to the miners' strike, the prices for Energon were way too high for middle or lower class and the most Bots were running on their last reserves. The produced cubes of Energon were sent to the high and noble caste, where they were feasting upon the blue liquid. Rests and leftovers would then be send to the lower castes, barely enough for anyone this cycle, and not enough for sparked mechs or femmes. To get some much needed Energon you would have to pay more than other bots or you would have to `know` somebot, somebot with connections in the right places. With these connections it was possible to get your servos on some under-the-table-goods. But the prices were high, as was the demand. Hydrostorm, for her luck, knew a mech, a merchant for housing unit supplies, who proclaimed to know a source for some `special` things and where to get them. It only took a bit of flirting and acting from Hydrostorm and her best friend, Wavelength, to get the much needed information out of the mech.

Some mechs had weird fantasies, Hydrostorm had thought at that time, while her servo had stroked over her friend's faceplates in a caress. The mech had been left a blubbering and coolant drooling idiot, babbling of his friend Smokefist, his optics nearly short-circuiting while his processors whined loudly.

So Wavelength and Hydrostorm had talked with each other, discussed possible ways to earn some extra credits and even sold some of their old things but the earned credits lasted only for a few full cycles. Their last hope for some much needed Energon was now the shop from Smokefist, a merchant in the lower levels of Iacon. The shop itself was located in one of the darkest streets in the outer regions of Iacon. It was shady and it stank from things Hydrostorm really didn`t want to know about.

"You really think we should do this? I mean… What if they don`t have it?" Wavelengths voice was filled with her sadness, her left servo pressed over her slightly bulging chassis, while the other servo grabbed onto Hydrostorms slightly shaking frame. The questioned femme stilled for a second before her optics were filled with determination and she nodded her helm.

"We must get some Energon, or else our newsparks will offline and probably take us with them! The bond is already forming and I know that you are a bit more along than I am, so we don`t have a choice! Come on!" Hydrostorm tugged the purple femme with her into the shop, her steps getting shakier and shakier the more she went into the dark, badly illuminated space.

Slightly cracked storage racks lined the dark and dusty walls, filled with trinkets, small cubes of highgrade, some picture boxes and different things more that she didn`t even notice. Her optics were focused on the burly, grey and yellow mech with the red optics behind the counter, who was staring at them with a hard and hunting gaze. Hydrostorm felt a shiver run down her backstrut, but stepped on regardless of her slight fear and anticipation.

"Good cycle, my dear femmes. How can I accommodate you this time? Can I help you with something?" The mechs voice was nerve grating high, it hurt not only Hydrostorms but also Wavelengths audios. The purple femmes head bobbed up and down, but no words were uttered by her. She only patted her friends shoulder in a silent demand. Hydrostorm cycled her vents two times before speaking up.

"Yes. I heard from a friend that we could buy some… goods from you." She didn`t like how her voice quivered and nearly broke at the end. The mechs optics narrowed before he leant over the counter, one clenched servo placed upon it.

"A friend heh? Who told you about that?" Behind Hydrostorm, Wavelength started shaking a bit, her dentas grinding over each other before she held her helm high, stared the red opticed mech down with a small gulping sound and answered before the blue femme could.

"Windfall told us." She uttered before sinking back behind her friend. The imposing mech lost some of his tenseness and stood up from his place behind the counter. Disregarding the two femmes in front of him, he walked to the door of his shop and closed and locked it. Hydrostorms frame shook under the servos of her friend as both femmes pressed harder against each other.

Smokefist stared at the two, a huge grin on his faceplates as he leaned against one part of a free wall beside the backdoor.

"Seems like you two never did this before, hmm? Don`t worry, my dear femmes. A friend of Windfall is a friend of mine. Please follow me to the back. My more… limited goods are over there." He gestured leisurely to the now opening backdoor, his voice becoming more alluring and a bit darker than his near whining. Moving slowly both Wavelength and Hydrostorm entered the backdoor, closely followed by Smokefist.

The room to which the backdoor lead was filled to the brim with racks, full racks, and smaller tables. Smokefist shoved himself by the two femmes, going over to a small table with a cassette on top. A small pile of credit-chips was strewn across the tabletop, but for the two femmes, it was a sight that nearly broke their spark. They had to scratch every last chip together to get by with their life and here was a mech who let his money just lay around, where every bot would be able to find it.

Said mech cleared his airways loudly, catching the attention of both femmes again.

"So, what can I do for you two?" he gestured around the racks and shelves, indicating that both femmes should take look around. Hesitantly both femmes entered the small labyrinth of racks, optics roving over goods, taking in viral daggers (highly illegal), blueprints of weapons and shields (looked like they were "brought in" right from the University of Polyhex!), medicine that was long forbidden in Iacon (kaonic stress relievers and such), parts of Predacons, like solar panels from a wing, claws from pedes and servos and even a small tank that looked like it held some sort of green and slightly steaming liquid. Between all these goods were cubes of highgrade with different flavors, even illegal mixtures with rare minerals, that would alter your senses.

To their happiness, they found what they had looked for, collected every single cube of normal Energon they could find, grabbed slices of rare minerals, that would be good for their newsparks and even handled some elements that were only for the newsparks of nobles! Both femmes didn`t just gather for herself, they had discussed it beforehand and agreed on distributing the catch later, based on colors and wanted frame additions. For example, the small slices of Iridium Wavelength clutched in her servo were good for a sturdy frame with minor weight, meaning the sparkling had better armor for all of his life but it didn`t weigh as much as normal. The nanites would become better than the normal patch a sparkling inherited from their Creators.

Both femmes trekked back to the table for a few times, scouting out every nook and cranny of the backroom, collecting what was needed and maybe a little bit more. They could just hope, that they had saved enough credits to buy all of that, maybe they had to leave some things behind, but the Energon was a must have. Maybe they had to rely on some of the blueprints for technology they had nicked from their work at the lab for paying means.

After scouting the last shelve and grabbing a small bag of mixed mineral slices and parts, both femmes came to a stop before the, now laden, table. Smokefist had taken a chair and was already typing on one his Datapads, adding Numbers and writing a notice about the purchased goods, so he got the overview what he would need to buy again. His optics were twinkling over the amount of Energon and other things he could make into money, it warmed his spark. But deep down in his processor a humming started, he felt as if he should know something, that there was something important he was missing.

"So, paying as one or dividing the bill?"

"We would like to pay as one, please." Hydrostorm answered slowly, after checking over her shoulder to get a consent from Wavelength.

"All right. So let me get this straight, you want 3 bags of mixed minerals, 5 bags of rare metal slices, 6 bags of mixed metal slices, 2 slices of Iridium, 2 slices of Aslian, 10 slices of Cybertronium, 1 cube of nanite enhancer, two cubes of Acharium and 22 cubes of Energon. Am I right about that?" He didn`t even wait for an acknowledgment before he turned his Datapad so the femmes, which were now very nervous, could see the amount of credits they would have to pay.

"71.564 credits. That is the whole amount." Both femmes felt as if their optics would pop out of their helm. That was more than they had with them! Both of them together would only come up to 55.600 credits! Wavelength stared at Hydrostorm, angst written in her optics. Smokefist groaned loudly.

"You don`t have enough, do you?" Both femmes nodded at the same time.

"We could give you two blueprints and our 55.000 credits. But we don`t have more with us…" Wavelengths voice got smaller and smaller at the end. The mechs helm tilted a bit, staring contemplating at the femmes. His optics raked over both femmes and froze when he could make out the small bulging of the chassis on both of them. His processor stalled a second before rebooting. While his processor caught up with the fact that he had two sparked femmes in his store, while the miners' strike was still going on and the energon was rationed. Naturally that meant, that the noble caste got everything they wanted while the workers were held on a short leash. And even sparked mechs or femmes didn`t get more. So was the system.

Two small servos shoved a Datapad in front of him, a `pad that had two blueprints on it. One was labelled as a shuttle-system enhancement and the other was a new blueprint about a new type of weapon for crowd control, with a bit of tweaking and working, this would become a more powerful weapon. Although he really tried to take it and just let them leave with the things, he knew that he couldn`t just deceive two sparked femmes with nowhere else to go.

"I tell you something. I take the blueprints and your credits, and both of you can take another bag of slices with you. I will get the bags for you. Pay up." He stood, took the offered money from both femmes and opened the cassette on the table. A Customer from the day before had paid with some new found materials and minerals, packed in three slightly bigger bags. He took out two and held them out to the two, still slightly shocked, femmes. The purple one even smiled hesitantly at him before both of them uttered a "thank you" over "thank you".

"If you want to trade again, sometimes, don`t hesitate to come back. Always a pleasure to make deals with others." Smokefist ushered the two relieved femmes out of his shop after opening the front door again, and watched them leave. Both femmes still clutched the servo of the other, but both seemed happier than when they entered his shop. He could only hope that the femmes would be all right over the time of the strike.

* * *

Hydrostorm and Wavelength sat in the former mentioned housing unit, in the living quarters to be exact. The table between them was laden with their purchased slices, metals and cubes. One side was designated for Wavelength and the other for Hydrostorm, the cubes already divided, now they were looking over the small bags, the slices and the left over cubes with the liquid materials.

"So, how do we do this? The number of the left overs is uneven. We have 3 bags with the rare minerals, 5 bags of rare metal slices and 1 cube of nanite enhancer. We can`t divide it between us two. So how do we do this?" Wavelengths nimble servos danced between the rest items, laying them out on display. Hydrostorm cycled her vents and looked over her own side.

The Energon would last for 11 whole cycles, so her twinlings could have her cubes as an extra, while they were still in the growing phase. The bags of metal slices would provide her with the needed nutrients for the first frame which would soon be growing inside her. The one slice of Iridium would make the frame lighter but denser, her sparkling would be safer from harm this way. Her twinlings hadn`t gotten something like this, they had big and sturdy frames. Aslian was a red mineral from one of the Outpost near the Sea of Rust, which would create an extra layer of protection for the joints and cables of the Protoform, it was sought after by every caste, but was rare due to the high demand. Wavelength and herself had been lucky to even find one of these.

The Cybertronium was a necessary metal for every living being on Cybertron, it was the essence of the first build beeings. The five slices for the both of them each, were more than enough for the newsparks. Maybe she would give her twinlings one of those, too. One cube of Acharium was a very rare thing for the lower caste to have for their sparklings, it would smooth over the rough edges from the frames. Nobles were all over smooth and elegant while the lower classes were bulky and sturdy, like her own twinlings. But the Acharium would make it at least a bit better. And then there was the slightly bigger bag with minerals and metals that she had never seen before, so she wouldn`t even know what it would do to her newspark. She would eat it last, maybe she wouldn`t even need it, hopefully.

"Let us think, Wave. The mixed minerals will just be for the colors of the armor and maybe for some other things. The rarer metal slices will provide for some extra space in the armor and Protoform, maybe even bring out some of the lost codes of CNA. And the nanite enhancer will, of course, enhance the activity of the nanintes." Hydrostorm fell silent, her servos clenching and unclenching on the table. Her processor ran wild.

"I would really like to have a bit more of the rarer metal slices. My grandsire and my grandcarrier had some interesting coding in their CNA and I would like to bring it out again. And I know that your own family unit had some problems with their nanite codes, so you can have the enhancer." Hydrostorm thought out loud, her optics gazing from the table to her best friend in front of her.

Wavelength nodded after some time to think and pushed the cube of enhancer to her own side, while slowly and thoughtfully fingering the 8 bags left. Both femmes fell silent and stared at the table.

"So you want the rarer materials? Fine with me, my mates frame type should make up for it anyway, his coding is dominant in the height department. So you get 3 bags of the rarer materials, I get two. And about the mixed minerals, you take one while I take two? Sounds fair to you, Hydro?" questioned femme nodded happily and took her bags to her side of the table.

"So, our quest is over. We got all we wanted and even more. At least the Energon will tide us over some time. And then we will see what we will do after that. We can`t do more right now." Wave said lowly, but a grin adorned her faceplates.

"We can do one thing right about now; we can drink a cube of Energon with a few slices and be happy about our little trip into the deepest levels of Iacon." Hydro grabbed a cube of her own stack, opened a packet of slices and let two slices slip inter the blue liquid, Wave following her lead. Both femmes let their, now slightly bubbling, cubes touch and sipped them down slowly.

Wave stopped first, her optics narrowing in thought and then straying over to her best friend.

"Did it taste a bit off to you too? I think it tastes a bit stale or… I really don`t know how to describe it…" Wave murmured and licked her glossa over her lip plates. Hydro swallowed down her own mouthful of Energon and tilted her helm to the side.

"I think… I think it is just the slices. Sometimes they are not really clean and maybe this caused the slightly off taste. I don`t know what else it could be."

* * *

At least some of the nobles and some bots of the upper classes had seen reason and enlarged the orbital-cycle rations for the lower class bots, so her mechlings, her mate and her didn`t have to pay for the smuggled goods anymore. It had eaten away their hard earned credits. So there was enough Energon, but the slices and minerals for sparked mechs and femmes were still limited. Wavelength and Hydrostorm had eaten all of their bags, disregarding the odd tastes of the Energon, regardless what kind of mineral or metal they would put in it.

It was now, several Deca-cycles later, that both Wavelength and Hydrostorm had an appointment with the medics. Just a simple check-up, nothing too serious, but both femmes were worried.

More than a few femmes from their neighborhood were sparked too, and had bought some smuggled wares as well, and all of them were experiencing pain and other symptoms, like heat rushes and sensitivity to the cold.

Hydro never let the servos, which were working on her chassis, out of her sight. The red and white femme in front of her was murmuring to herself while sometimes dictating a diagnosis to her apprentice, who shared the same color scheme. Hydro didn`t understand a word from the diagnosis, but she could easily see the tensing frame of the mech apprentice and his narrowing optics. The medics servo froze right over her chassis, where the larger than normal bump of her sparkling was. A low growl built up in Hydros vocalizer, causing the medic to slowly move her servo away.

"Well, this is a problem." The medic, Patch, muttered and stared at the results of her in-depth scan. Her processor loaded the images of similar scans into her left optic to compare it with the one she had just taken.

Meanwhile her apprentice, a nearly full framed youngling, shortly before his beginning adulthood, tried to calm down the now tense and shivering femme on the medical berth, whose optics were sharp and focused on the still muttering medic.

"What, is a problem!?" Hydros voice was filled with static in her distress, causing her own spark to speed up with panic. She didn`t even acknowledge the poor apprentice, who was now stroking her left leg and was readying a syringe with a clear, pinkish liquid, just in case.

"Well, in the last few orbital-cycles I had nearly twenty sparked femmes in my clinic. And I got the same scan results from twelve of them as I got from you. Say, did you experience pain, temperature changes in your frame or some other things while sparked, and since when?" The medic was talking slowly and with a careful blank voice.

"Yes, I… a few Deca-cycles ago it started to hurt in my chassis and in my backstrut. And sometimes I can`t stand the cold anymore, but not constantly. And my center of balance is slightly off, I trip often at home. My mate and my mechlings are worried." She stopped, one servo pressed against her warm chassis and shivered again. Her optics were large and filled with fear. "What is wrong with my sparkling?"

Both medics stared for a moment at her before exchanging a quick look. The apprentice observed her with his blue optics, one of his servos softly rubbing over her shoulder. His mentor sighed deeply and shuttered her optics once.

"We found a spark dysfunction through the scans. It seems that something caused the spark of the newspark to, I would call it, mutate. It has a higher temperature than normal and the sparkbeat is significantly slower. This will lead to problems when it is time for the newspark to be born." Hydros intakes stopped and a low keening sound left her vocalizers.

"Do you… Do you know what caused it?" The mech nodded after a few moments. He shot a look to his mentor before clearing his intakes. His mentor looked like she was just a few steps away from throwing the metal tablet at somebot! The sparked femmes' servos grabbed onto his arms with a strength that nearly dented his plating.

"Our scientists in the lab in upper Iacon found that a whole batch of Energon was contaminated. With what, they still don`t know, but it could be the cause for the mutated spark."

"And what does it mean for my newspark?"

"We don`t fully know, we have to wait till the birthing process and after that we can assess the damage or the mutation. I am really sorry…" Hydro could barely hear the medics voice, her grip loosening on the apprentice and her helm lolled back, like her backstrut just gave out on her. Her processor stalled for a few Klikks.

"And… My friend, Wavelength, has the same problem… Does it mean…?"

"Yes, she is affected too. But I promise you, as soon as we know what is wrong or get new data from the Scientists, we will call you into the clinic and talk about it! But I can`t promise that everything will be alright…"

* * *

The rest of the visit at the medic's clinic was blurred after that information. Hydros processor was fighting itself to understand and accept the truth that something was seriously wrong with her newspark.

As soon as she stepped outside, her optics landed on her best friend. Wavelength sobbed loudly before nearly flying into Hydros embrace, coolant leaking out of both femmes optics. Their pedes wouldn`t carry them anymore.

Both sank down in the waiting room, keening and clicking in distress, soon followed by other femmes as they stepped outside the medical room.

* * *

 **I feel so bad about it...**

 **But it is necessary for the story..**

 **I am such an evil aft...**

 **But it will get better! I Promise You!**

 **Anyone can guess who the apprentice is?**


End file.
